Languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. Language is an efficient means allowing speakers to express orally their internal beliefs.
Through the external expression of their thoughts, individuals can differentiate themselves from others in terms of gender, origin, race or even social class. Consequently, language reflects the membership that one has with a specific cultural community; it reveals its norms, values, behaviours and beliefs. Moreover, language is one of the major factors allowing individuals to learn, to share or to teach their specific culture.
The mother language serves as a good and effective medium for expression and communication. As proficiency and mastery can be easily achieved in a mother language so the individuals form into social organisations. Creative self-expression and productive ability all stem from one's own mother tongue. This is clear from the fact that all great writers could produce great literature only in their own language. The emotional effect of literature and poetry is something which is of vital importance in the development and refinement of emotions and this is only possible because of the mother language.
Original ideas are the product of one's own mother tongue. On account of the facility of thought and expression, new and original ideas take birth and get shape only in one's own mother tongue. Children develop their mother tongue, simultaneously fostering a whole host of other essential skills, such as critical thinking and literacy skills.
There is a saying “Thinking is an instrument of acquiring knowledge; and thinking is impossible without language. And training in the use of mother tongue, the tongue in which a child thinks and dreams, becomes the first essential of shoaling and the finest instrument of human culture." (PB Ballard)
As per the date available from Census 2001, over 7,000 languages are there in the world and India alone has about 22 officially recognised languages, 1,635 rationalised mother tongues and 234 identifiable mother tongues. The Unesco reiterates its commitment to linguistic diversity and invites its member States to celebrate the day in as many languages as possible as a reminder that linguistic diversity and multilingualism are essential for sustainable development. The Unesco has been celebrating the International Mother Language Day for nearly 20 years with the aim of preserving linguistic diversity and promoting mother tongue-based multilingual education.
Mother tongue education is not only a force for quality learning, it is also essential to bolster multilingualism and respect for linguistic and cultural diversity at a time when societies are transforming quickly and many languages are under threat. The United Nations agency mandated with promoting education. Linguistic diversity is increasingly threatened as more and more languages disappear. One language disappears on an average every two weeks, taking with it an entire cultural and intellectual heritage. Nevertheless, progress is being made in mother tongue-based multilingual education with growing understanding of its importance, particularly in early schooling, and more commitment to its development in public life.
This year, the Unesco commemorates the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its bold statement is that ‘no discrimination can be made on the basis of language’ and celebrates its translation into more than 500 languages. It also uses the day to focus on linguistic diversity and multilingualism as an integral part of sustainable development and in particular, to realise targets 4.6 and 4.7 of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) on education.
The SDGs depend on linguistic diversity and multilingualism as a vital contribution to global citizenship education as they promote intercultural connections and better ways of living together.
When languages fade, so does the world's rich tapestry of cultural diversity. Opportunities, traditions, memory, unique modes of thinking and expression — valuable resources for ensuring a better future — are also lost.
Having a strong mother tongue foundation leads to a much better understanding of the curriculum as well as a more positive attitude towards school, so it’s vital that children maintain their first language when they begin schooling in a different language to maintain and strengthen the intercultural relations in a more wider sphere.
(Dr Das writes articles on gender equality and social-based issues. She is a post graduate English teacher by profession and can be mailed at Subhashree.das1201@gmail.com.)
